Robertson Resignation...The Truth.

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Les Robertson

BANNED
Joined
Oct 10, 1998
Messages
3,565
To Mike, Kevin and The rest of the Forum memebers.

My resignations was directly in response to the forum desire to combine the collectible and Custom room.

Kevin emailed me about 3 weeks ago to give me the head's up to tell me they were going to do this. I responded in by saying I did not think that was a good idea and they should just eliminate the collectible room.

Friday morning I received the next email, telling me since I didn't object (?) that the y were combinging the rooms.

Then and only then did I resign.

Kevin seems to be a little confused. First he says they are going forward with their plans and then back peddles and says they were just considering it. Please re read Kevin's post.

As previously mentioned, we are going forward with the combining of the Custom and Collectors forums. Since you didn't have a problem with this earlier, I'm hoping that this is still the case. Anyhow, consider this a heads up.

Imagine my suprise when I found this email, and then his resignation, even though we *had not* combined the forums or even made a final decision.

First Kevin says we are going forward with it, then he says (after the fact) "even made a final decision". Kevin, you can't have it both ways. First you say your going ahead with it, then you say the final decision had not been made? Which was it.

I worded my initial post to say only that I was resigning because the room was not going to be an all custom room. I don't think anyone familiar with me would be surprised that I did not want to discuss factory knives.

I was a little disappointed that Kevin felt it necessary to post our private emails and "air our dirty laundry".

Kevin has made comments concerning my not wanting to help the forum any more, that I am not a team player.

Personally, I thought I tried to answer as many questions as I could and explain different concepts, category's, and position's concerning knives and knifemakers as was within my ability.

Unlike Kevin, I, nor none of the moderator's receive any kind of pay check from either Mike or BladeFourms for the time we put in here. Personally, I did it because I love custom knives.

Mike, I think you know I have supported Blade Forums. As for you, I do not think you have a hidden agenda. I think you are trying to create the best forum you can for the discussion of knives and knife related products and ideas.

You had the only pure custom forum on the internet. Perhaps (re reading Sparks post) he prematurely pulled the plug on the all custom room. I think it was a mistake. It would appear that several others think it is a mistake as well.

Before you combine all these rooms and bring in all these moderators you may want to poll the forum members who are interested soley in custom knives.

I never said I thought I was being forced out or that what anyone in the Forum wanted.

I resigned as I did not want to be a moderator in a room other than one that discussed only "CUSTOM KNIVES".

There are no Apologies necessary. This Forum belongs to Mike, he can do as he damn well pleases. Mike had made a decision to combine rooms. I had told Spark I did not think this was a good idea. When I was told they were going ahead with it. I assumed there was a good reason.

Mike, did Kevin speak out of turn. Had the decision to combine rooms not really been made. If so, why did he feel it necessary to give me a heads up that you were combining rooms?

I would like to thank all of you for kind words and well wishes.

Mike, I have nothing but respect for you and what you are trying to accomplish.

For me, I plan to continue adding my .02 cents. That is if Spark doesn't ban me from access to the forum.

One last thing, if you want an all custom room. You need to let Mike know.



------------------
Les Robertson
Robertson's Custom Cutlery
http://www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com/rcc/makers.shtml
I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.

 
Les: Thanks for the clarification. You will be greatly missed here, by all of us. And, as I'm sure the moderators will find, there is NO replacement for you as the moderator of this forum. And, I'm willing to bet that this forum will diminish in both quality and quantity without you.
Another pointless move, with undesireable and unnecessary consequences.....

Thanks,

RJ Martin
 
Dear Les,

Thanks for your post. Unfortunately, the story you tell doesn't jibe with the facts, and what you said in your emails doesn't follow with what you've said publically.

Les, you can mince words and quibble all you want, but the resolute facts are that:

1. The forums hadn't been combined.
2. You didn't want to discuss the issue, and made it "your way or the highway"
3. We went out of our way to elicit your feedback,
4. When we ask for your opinions, you accuse us of being out to get you, having some hidden agenda to remove you (despite our going out of our way to make sure you were included), and try to twist the issues.
5. Finally, instead of trying to discuss this issue with us, you instead publically resigned, made as much of a mess as possible out of a private situation (remember, you are the one who made this public, we hadn't done anything yet), and then fled. Now you come back claiming that you are the wronged party.

Sorry Les, this isn't going to fly. These are not the charecteristics of a team player.

You make allegations that the decision to merge the two forums was mine alone. What you've missed, however, is that Mike and I both discussed doing this. In fact, I sent Mike a copy of this email for his approval before I sent it to you:
Les,

As previously mentioned, we are going forward with the combining of the Custom and Collectors forums. Since you didn't have a problem with this earlier, I'm hoping that this is still the case. Anyhow, consider this a heads up.

Also, with the upgrade of the forum software, we now have the ability for multiple moderators in each forum. So, we will probably be adding 1-3 moderators to the Custom/Collectors forum in the near future. Notice, I said *add*, you are *not* being removed, demoted, or pushed aside, we just feel that it would be a great advantage to have more depth of coverage and a wider base of experience for the forum members to draw upon. Plus, this should give you some more time to write that magazine column you were talking about, right?

This is going to be an across the board change and we'll be adding moderators to most of the forums including the Blade Discussion Forum, Community Center, Tactical, etc. Some forums will get more, some less, but this will give us some redundancy if discussions get heated or if someone goes on vacation or to a show, or gets sick, etc.

Anyhow, I'd like your feedback on who else you think would be a good addition to the moderator team for the Custom/Collector forum. I'm thinking about asking Gus K. and maybe Larry Connolly (not sure on him), however, if you know of someone else who is suitable, please let me know.

Also, if you have any ideas on a change of direction/mission for the Custom/Collector forum, please give my your opinion as well.

Spark
Click to expand...

Notice the going forward, and take further heed that as of right now, the forums still haven't been combined. Thus, nothing final had been done yet.

Instead of having a reasonable discussion about this, you chose this route and fled for the weekend, leaving us to deal with your public denouncements and resignation. No problem, but unfortunately, that doesn't make your case any stronger. Heck, for that matter, you can't even keep your story straight:
There are no Apologies necessary. This Forum belongs to Mike, he can do as he damn well pleases. Mike had made a decision to combine rooms. I had told Spark I did not think this was a good idea. When I was told they were going ahead with it. I assumed there was a good reason.
Click to expand...

If that's the case, why did you publically quit and make such a big stink about something that hadn't even been done yet? You realize that we have good reasons to do what we need to do, but then decide to make a huge mess publically? You aren't making sense, Les.

Then you follow up with this:
Mike, did Kevin speak out of turn. Had the decision to combine rooms not really been made. If so, why did he feel it necessary to give me a heads up that you were combining rooms?
Click to expand...
Until the forums had actually been combined, there is always time to stop the process. We gave you a heads up because it was common courtesy (something you failed to return), and we wanted to hear your objections before we did it (something you chose instead to turn into a very ugly public issue), and we wanted to prevent just this sort of thing from happening, which, naturally enough happened anyway.

Furthermore, you need to realize that sometimes we must make decisions as BladeForums.com Administrators that not everyone is going to agree with. As a moderator, If you had a problem with a decision, you need to work it out with us privately, instead of turning it into a public battle. This you did not do, despite every effort on our parts to prevent just this sort of thing from happening.

You bring up the matter of pay, which is a very good point. Unfortunately, you are wrong again in this matter.

Nowhere on my job description does it say that BladeForums.com pays me any money. Heck, BladeForums.com is lucky to break even, much less pay me money. My full time job is that I am the Webmaster for WOW-Distribution, and that's that. BladeForums.com does not turn a profit, and probably isn't going to in the near future, so your logic is severely flawed.

On the other hand, as moderator of the custom forum, I'm more than willing to be that you were able to use your position as moderator to make more than a few sales. After all, who better than you to make recommendations as to what to buy, especially if you have it in stock, right? So, please, don't play the "I didn't get paid!" card, because I am very willing to bet that you made more money of these forums than I have, and Mike will back me up on that.

In summation, Les, I'm really dissappointed in your behavior as a moderator, and even more by the fact that instead of trying to work this out with us, you choose to continue to with the falsehoods and misrepresentations. For whatever reason you harbor the delusion that I am out to get you, and I'm sorry that you have that impression, but it's simply untrue. You can turn this discussion into a Spark vs. the custom knife world argument if you choose, but that does not lift the blame of your actions from your shoulders. Instead of working with us like we asked, you chose to quit and we respect your decision.

I truly cannot fathom why you chose to turn this into such a big issue and resigned over something that hadn't been done yet. I truly wish you had not chosen to act this way, and had discussed this instead like I requested. But, that is not the path you chose to take, and you must live with it.

You will not be banned from here, since that is not our policy. You are free to continue on as a member, since you resigned your position as a moderator, and we won't exclude you from the discussions, but as a member you must abide by the rules we set for everyone. I strongly urge you to look at your current behavior and work to improve upon it.

Best of luck to you, Les, and I hope that you will continue to participate in the Custom Knife Forum discussions, as a member with valued knowledge.

Spark

------------------
Kevin Jon Schlossberg
SysOp and Administrator for BladeForums.com

Insert witty quip here
 
Give me a freaken break would you?

Let's reduce this to the simple here because I do not have time for this childish, immature, ego CRAP!

Seriously this conspiracy theory crap has to go because it is BS and you know it.

Les,

If you want to remain as moderator do so. We have not combined the forums as your points are valid. I chose to archive them.

This forum will stay a custom knife only forum no matter who moderates it, OK?

What is not up for negotiations is that we may/will add more moderators to several forums including this one. I have already made my points in other threads so no need to rehash them.

You seem to have a problem with Spark. Am I right? Fine if you are. If you stay on I will eliminate your communication with Spark and you can deal directly with me.

I am not however going to kiss ass here.

Now a simple question.

Do you want to stay on as moderator or not? Yes or No?

------------------
Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Do it! Do it right! Do it right NOW!
www.wowinc.com

 
You guys need to take this private, give each other a call will ya. Lets delete this thread!

[This message has been edited by CJ (edited 13 September 1999).]
 
Mike, didn't months ago when Les was removed as moderator an email list of "board members" get set up to deal with exactly this kind of problem?

-Cliff
 
I agree. Delete this thread. All this is between Mike, Spark, and Les. It is none of our business and is detrimental to this forum.

------------------
-Dennis-


 
Cliff, thank you for bringing up the Board panel, since there has been more information brought to light about this situation, we will be addressing them this evening regarding this issue.

Spark

------------------
Kevin Jon Schlossberg
SysOp and Administrator for BladeForums.com

Insert witty quip here
 
Right now I am waiting on a decision from Les.

So I do not think the board is necessary at this time. However should it become necessary we will let them make any decision which may be viewed as to controversial for me or Spark to make alone.

------------------
Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Do it! Do it right! Do it right NOW!
www.wowinc.com

 
Les, I for one would greatly appreciate you staying on as moderator for the discussion of custom knives. It appears as though it will remain a custom knives forum. Knives (in this case custom knives) is something which we have in common, that is why we are here. I sincerely hope that this problem can fade away and things can return to the way they were.

By the way, getting rid of the collector corner is a good idea.
 
This is the same type of rhetoric that sunk knife forums.Can you spell "EGO" ? This attitude, and ego, do not belong in a successful business.Resolve this off line, or you will lose your established base of formites who come here for relaxation.

Floyd

[This message has been edited by FWO (edited 14 September 1999).]
 
Floyd,

That was our first choice and what we tried to do (and are still working on), unfortunately, it was dragged into the public eye. You are right, Ego is a major problem here, but sometimes for the good of the whole you have to suppress your personal wants.

Spark

------------------
Kevin Jon Schlossberg
SysOp and Administrator for BladeForums.com

Insert witty quip here
 
It would be inappropriate for me or any other ordinary member to take sides or venture a substantive comment here. To that end, I agree with those who suggested that this thread be deleted. But before the thread disappears, let me say what I'm sure many members feel. It would be a damn shame if we lost Les as a moderator. You guys are too smart and accomplished to let a difference of opinion get in the way of a good thing. This forum is important and has potential, and I say that not because I'm a knife nut [I suppose I am} but because I am an outsider who sees that this is becoming the best place to discuss, learn about and promote knives and knife related topics, goods and services. The Custom side has its peculiarities;the factory side has its own, and so too the antiquers and the miniatures etc. Surely there are enough megabytes to give space and some independence to each, if numbers warrant. You know, the nice thing about the net is that you don't have to guess: you can ask the membership. But, for heaven's sake, you can discuss and decide substantive issues without a public skirmish about who did what or who is right about what or whether this one has a big ego or that one has a big id. Myself, I have a big dick, but that shouldn't be a public issue. Oooops.
Anyway, the forum is great and it would be a shame if it lost Les. Les is great, and it would be a shame if he lost the forum by voluntarily withdrawing from it. You guys are smart enough and big enough to work out a solution - who said what and who was right or wrong ain't important. Now, please delete this thread and my little sermon too.
HJK
 
Nope the thread stays. Just don't respond to it and it will fade away like an old soldier.

------------------
Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Do it! Do it right! Do it right NOW!
www.wowinc.com

 
Fourm Members,

Just got back from the AECA Show in Chicago.

Got a email from Gus, asking if we should delete these type threads.

I appreciate Mike Turber not jumping in and closing this no longer appropriate thread.

So I hope nobody gets to upset about it if I Lock it up.

And now back to custom knives!

 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top